Srivatsa
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The Śrīvatsa, Shrivatsa, or Sri Vatsa (Devanagari: श्रीवत्स)[1] is a figure of South Asian symbology.[clarification needed] Shrivatsa was married to Rudrani. Chandra et al.. (1902: p. 69) state that it denotes "...the auspicious mark represented by a curled noose emblematical of love...".[2]
Shrivatsa is an ancient auspicious symbol in India. It is a mark on the chest of Vishnu where His consort Sri Lakshmi resides. It is said that the 10th avatar of Vishnu, Kalki will be bearer of the Srivatsa mark on his chest. Srivatsa is also another name of Vishnu and is mentioned in the Vishnu Sahasranam.
In Buddhism, the Srivatsa is said to be a feature of the tutelary deity (Skt: ishtadevata; Tib: yidam) Manjusri the Youth (Skt: Manjusrikumarabhuta).[3]
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[edit] As a Jain symbol
In Jainism, it often marks the chest of the Tirthankara statue. It is one of the ashtamangala. It can look somewhat like a fleur-de-lis, an endless knot, a flower or diamond shaped symbol.
[edit] Gotra
In Sanskrit, gotra means family, race or lineage that are patriarchal groups. The Brahmin subcastes are grouped under various gotras. Srivatsa is a commonly used surname in Hindu names. Lord Parasurama an avatar of Vishnu was born in this Gotra. Sri-Vatsa is a gotra derived from the existing Vatsa gotra. Srivatsa gotra has 5 pravara rishis (sages) Bhargava, Chyavana, apnavAna, Aurava and Jamadagni; in other words, people of the srivatsa or vatsa gotra claim to being descent from these sages.[4] Thus, during abhivAdana, one acknowledges the bhArgava chyAvAna, Apnavana, aurva, jAmadagnya pravaras. Surnames in this Gotra are many and include: Kuchibhatla, Rayabharam, Damaraju, Aarya, Chennapragada, chemakuri, Devulapalli, Garudadri,Gunturi, Sastry, Shastry, Shastri, Iyer , Iyengar, Maalaraju, Kamath, Machiraju, Mudumbai, Munnangi, Raachavelpula, Saatha, Samavedam, Kothapally, Vundi, Tangirala, Tenneti, Yarramilli, Bhamidipati, Bommaraju, Chakravarthy, Indraganti/Indrakanti, Gollapinni, Tiwari, Morusupalli, Kanukolanu and Bollapinni.
[edit] Other uses
The srivatsa is the symbol of Rakhine State and the Arakanese people of Myanmar.
[edit] References
- ^ Sarat Chandra Das (1902). Tibetan-English Dictionary with Sanskrit Synonyms. Calcutta, India: Bengal Secretariat Book Depot, p.69
- ^ Sarat Chandra Das (1902). Tibetan-English Dictionary with Sanskrit Synonyms. Calcutta, India: Bengal Secretariat Book Depot, p.69
- ^ Alex Wayman, "Chanting the Names of Manjusri" 1985, p. 94
- ^ "Internet Archive Wayback Machine". Web.archive.org. 2009-10-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20091027112511/http://geocities.com/somasushma/bhargavas.html. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
[edit] Further reading
- Sutton, Nicholas (200). Religious doctrines in the Mahābhārata p. 153.
- T P Sundara Rajan
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